This is about the converted IR camera. I use Life Pixel to do all my camera conversions. As far as I am concerned they are the best. My friend Tony Sweet recommended them to me and I have never regreted it. ( see Tony's work and workshop programs at www.tonysweet.com)

In our workshop programs we always try new things. Somtimes they work and sometimes they don't. Recentley I was asked if I had a converted  camera and I used a ND filter on it can I get slower shutter speeds with the camera in IR. The ansewer is yes.

Here comes the Singh-Ray Mor-Slo . The Morslow 10 stop filter was used for these test and although did track quite exact as in visable light came close enough to fine tune and get some good results.

Above a converted Nikon D7000 was used. Conversion was at 590 nm. The Singh-Ray

mor-Slo 10 stop was used to slow our shutter speed down.

The following images were taken with Nikon D5 or D500 camera. The lenses were either my Tele Vue 85 telescope or my Nikon 200-500 set at 500mm.

The D5 was mounted on the telescope while the D500 was on the 200-500. I used three different filters for the test: An Astro Zap Solar filter, Singh-Ray 15 stop Mor-Slo filter, and a LEE Solar filter.

When using the Astro Zap filter, the cameras white balance was set to cloudy. The filtration in the filter was UV corrected and white balance came out as shown with no post processing.

We had good clarity on the Sun spots and great color.  The 3rd image was photographed with the 15 stop Mor-Slo. This image was a little more difficult to control the light, as I think 18-20 stops would have worked better. Singh-Ray does make a 20 stop Mor-slo which would fit the need. Here the photo came out almost white. 

By shooting the image with a white balance set to Kelvin (10,000K), we begin to get our color back.

Once we get our image into post processing, we can further add warmth, as well as adding saturation. This brings back the nice color.

I found the same held true for the LEE Solar filter. The optical quality of both the LEE and Singh-Ray was excellent but you did need post processing to get the best results.

Here are a few shot with the LEE system.  The final image was with the Singh-Ray filter.

In the end, any of these filter will work great. The results and the process vary a little but excellent results. I like the idea of the Singh-Ray 15 stop Mor-slo maybe with a 5 stop added. Why? so I can use these filters for other photography shoots. ie: long exposure moving water or clouds. The dedicated solar filters are good for the Solar photography.

The Astro Zap is nice because it takes less post processing to get that nice orange glow.

Note for the Eclipse, you only use these filter during the partial eclipse, Once you have a total eclipse, you remove the filter for that one image. NOTE: you must get that filter back on as soon as the sun starts to peek through. Otherwise you will damage your eyes.

Places to buy filters.. Go to www.singh-ray.com and, until August 21 use vinny20 and get 20% off any Singh-Ray order.

For LEE filters, contact Alan at Hunts Photo.   781-462-2383

email at: [email protected]

For the Astro Zap solar filter. Call Southeastern Photo at 919-890-4484   Ask for Tony

You can also look at LEE filters Web page at www.leefilters.com

By the way, My Tele Vue 85, Nikon D5, D500, and 200-500 performed great throughout these tests.

For those interested in my Tele Vue 85 / D5 setup,here are a few images. NOTE: If your telescope has a spotter scope,you MUST cover or remove that scope while viewing the sun. You can get hurt or loose your eye sight. At the very least, you can melt you finder scope insides.

Two filter configurations are shown. The silver filter is the Astro Zap. The filter holder is a LEE filter holder. This holds the LEE Solar Filter or the Singh-Ray Mor-Slo Filter.

All these images were made with a Nikon 200-500mm  or 70-200mm

on either a D5 or D500. I used a Induro GIT 304L with a Wimberley Head with the Nikon D5 / 200-500. The 70-200 was hand held with my D500.

The trainers supplied by the Triple D Ranch brought us to each location in the right light. The hard part was not running out of Media cards.

I hope you consider joining us for a great adventure. Take a look at the details and sign-up today.

              ADDITIONAL INFORMATION HERE

Would this Induro  GIT304 and GIT304L Stealth tripod do the same.  The short answer is YES. I was amazed of the quality and cost of this tripod.  I ve used them now for landscapes as well as long lens wildlife. The larges lens I have put on it was a Nikon 600mm f/4 with a Nikon D5.

I have had both my Really Right Stuff BH-55 head as well as my Wimberley full gamble head. Both worked well with the tripod.

Also Gary from Hunts has a special offer. If you are a Vinny Colucci Workshop / seminar participant, contact Alan and ask for and receive a 15% discount on Induro products. Here is Alan's contact information

PLEASE NOTE NEW PHONE & EMAIL BELOW

Alan Samiljan

100 Main St.

Melrose, MA 02176

(781) 462-2383

[email protected]

My hours are Monday, Tuesday, Friday & Saturday, 8:30-5:30pm eastern

Follow me on Twitter for the latest deals on used equipment! @AlanAtHunts

The difference between the GIT304 and GIT304L is the 304L is a little longer. For travel the 304 fits well in my roller bag for carry on.

There are some nice features to this tripod. The quick release allows you to change out plates quick. The high quality twist leg release work extremely well. The feet come with three options. Normal rubber feet, spiked feet and a new design pivot foot system which finds its own stability on all terrains. 

All tripods come with a built in level bubble,weight hook, and tripod case. Each case has a full set of tools to maintain and keep your tripod tuned up.

Here are a few photos taken while on my first test run to Charleston area.

Being on a good tripod is the only way to stabilize your work.  Whats the cost. Less then $600.00 Thats almost half the cost of my previous set of legs. High quality, good price and good looks. That means great buy for me. Check out the Induro line on there website.  Click the Induro logo above to take a look.

I love using filters. My favorite manufacture of filters is Singh-Ray Filters. They are made right here in the USA. singh-Ray makes filters for us photographers and many profesional Nature Photographers use there filters above all else. I learned about Singh-Ray from my dear friend Tony Sweet. (www.tonysweet.com).

Check out  Tony's website and see for yourself. You can look at the Singh-Ray Filters line by going to www.sigh-ray.com.  Use vinny10 promo code for 10% off your entire filter order.

Here are a few images using the mentioned filters.

The image on the left was shot with a 3 stop ND filter. It wasn't quite enough to smooth out the water. I switch to a 10 stop Singh-Ray mot-slo and got the results on the right.

The image at the top was shot with no filter. Camera was a Nikon D5 with a 14-24 f/2.8 at f/16. ISO was set at 100. The second image was shot with a 15 stop filter with the same camera set up. You can see the difference is amazing. Note. Controlling light is what filters are all about. The time of day was about 4 PM so the sun was still fairly high in the sky. We were still able to make a image controlling the light with th filter,evern though the light wasn't ideal.

Until next time keep shooting. Thanks you and have a blessed day

We had a great group in our St. Augustine Rookery event. 3 days of birds nesting and in flight.  We had a new beginner that had a amazing progression form the first day to the last. Learning her camera,trying new lens, and tripod, she was able to get sharp images by the end of the workshop of birds in flight.

With the help of Annette we were able to answer all the questions fro beginner to advanced and had a great time with the group to boot. 

Next year back to the Titusville area for our Florida Wetlands event. Watch for the announcement soon.

          Educate : Inspire : Entertain

The way we achieve this is to shoot with a shallow depth of field.  In many cases this means to shoot wide open. If you have a F/4 lens,shoot at f/4. I like shooting f/2.8 depth of field. 

Many of my fellow photographers feel with the advent of great high ISO capabilities we no longer need to invest in super fast glass. i.e.: f/4.0. f 2.8 and larger. I on the other hand feel the creative chose of shallow depth is even more important in chooseing f/4 and f/2.8 lens.

The side benifit is you get fast shutter speeds without having to increase the ISA as shown above. The lower the ISO the cleaner the image so the faster the glass the better results. Look for color behind your image and blur it out for a great color pallet.

Stopped today at Port Royal, SC. Last year when visiting this area, I found this wetland which had a nice collection of birding. I knew I was about a month early to visit this location, but it must have been very early, as there was almost nothing to photograph. 

Nothing I expected that is. I have found when there is nothing there, you just need to look a little harder to find something. I did just that. 

The collection below was from Port Royal with the exception of the after sunset pictures. These images were a little pond outside my hotel room in Savannah, GA.

Also, all photos were taken with the Fuji X-T1, with either the 55-200 lens or the 18-135 lens. The last photo of the wood duck landing was taken with my D3S ,400mm f/2.8 with a TC 20EIII 2X converter. This gave me 800mm.

I found this train display in town.  I spent about 30 minutes photographing it prior to a meeting.

Here are some of the photos.  Lens was the 18-135 and it is turning out to be a nice travel lens

Below are a few photos from last year to kick off this year. We hope you join us on one of our new adventures in 2015. 

Our future travels will be reported in our blog. These will also be shared in our social media such as Facebook. We hope you follow us throughout the year.

                                   Keep Shooting  &  Enjoy the Adventure